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June 02, 2011

FNPF "consultations" not going so well

A PUBLIC presentation by the Fiji National Provident Fund, facilitated by its chief executive officer Aisake Taito drew the ire of members in attendance, who were worried that proposed changes would affect their pensions.

The crowd, though quietly attentive during the presentation's early stages, began engaging Mr Taito in dialogue after he discussed the imminent review of FNPF's pension obligations.

Despite a well-prepared presentation in which Mr Taito described the crisis FNPF would face if it continued at the generous and unsuitable rate at which savings were converted to pension income, most failed to grasp the gist of what he said.

Of overall concern to many were suggestions by Mr Taito that the single pension rate of 15 per cent may be reduced to 9 per cent and double pension rates from 12 to 7 per cent.

A realist during his enquires but an optimist at heart, Permal Velaidan had only one question for Mr Taito: "How will I keep up with my payments on my house, town rates and my kids' education if you're going to cut the pension rate?"

The 67-year-old Valelevu resident, though disappointed with Mr Taito's "we'll take it into consideration" response, said not much could be done as the only way to turn the fund around was to start implementing the proposed changes.

"I feel for my fellow pensioners as many of us signed with FNPF in good faith thinking our money would be here when we retired but now accessing it is so difficult.

"However, if it must be done for the greater good of all then so be it. All we can do is hope for better days."